Scottish Executive

Alcohol Misuse

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to reduce the incidence of (a) under-age drinking, (b) drinking by young adults and (c) drinking by children and what resources it has allocated for this purpose.

Mrs Mary Mulligan: Reducing harmful drinking by children and young people is one of the key priorities of the Plan for Action on alcohol problems , published on 18 January 2002. The plan sets out a range of action in relation to school and community-based education. There is also action to ensure children affected by alcohol problems have access to appropriate services and new resources for parents to help them to discuss alcohol issues with their children. We are also continuing to provide support to Health Education Board for Scotland and Alcohol Focus Scotland to provide information and advice on the dangers of under-age and excessive drinking and undertake preventative activities with schools and youth and community groups.

  The Executive has made £3.3 million available through central budgets in this financial year to support local and national action to tackle alcohol problems. A breakdown of funding to tackle harmful drinking by children and young people is not available.

Alcohol Misuse

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when the results of the pilot proof-of-age schemes to reduce under-age drinking are expected and what action it will take if the schemes prove effective.

Mrs Mary Mulligan: Voluntary proof of age was an integral part of the Scottish Executive funded Dialogue Youth and Young Scot smart card pilot project. Under the pilot, cards containing a digital photograph and verified date of birth were offered to all secondary school pupils in Angus, Glasgow, Argyll and Bute and Edinburgh. Take-up of the card was between 80 and 90% and the young people themselves requested that the proof of age element be maintained and accredited.

  A full roll-out of the card to all 32 local authority areas is now planned, resulting in some 375,000 cards being issued by the end of 2004. Accreditation for the card is being sought under the British Retail Consortium's Proof of Age Standard Scheme, the outcome of which is expected in the spring.

Carers

Mr Kenneth Gibson (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps are being taken to ensure that carers’ assessments for accessing services are adequately funded and implemented.

Mr Frank McAveety: The resources allocated by the Executive to local authorities to support carers will have risen from £5 million in 1999-2000 to £21 million in 2003-04. This level of investment will be sustained over the next three years and increased in line with pay and inflation. In addition to this, local government finance settlements for the next three years include substantial extra sums for social care. We are working closely with local authorities, the NHS and carer representatives to develop policy guidance for health and social care practitioners around the new rights for carers contained in the Community Care and Health (Scotland) Act 2002, as well as comprehensive new best practice guidance in supporting carers. Both sets of guidance will address the importance of delivering effective outcomes for carers through assessment.

Carers

Mr Kenneth Gibson (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps are being taken to ensure that resources are made available so that carers have access to respite from caring.

Mr Frank McAveety: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-34221 on 5 March 2003. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search

Community Care

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what action people can take when care provided by local authorities is less than that outlined in their care plans.

Mr Frank McAveety: Local authorities have a duty under the Social Work (Scotland) 1968 Act to assess the needs of and provide appropriate services to people who appear to need them. Any decision taken about care needs by social work departments should be based on a detailed assessment of the individual’s needs and wishes. This year we are providing £1.38 billion to help local authorities deliver social work services.

  It is up to local authorities to decide how these resources should be deployed to best meet local needs and priorities. Should an individual feel that a local authority is neglecting its statutory obligation to provide appropriate community care services they may pursue the matter further through the relevant local authority's complaints procedure.

Drug Misuse

Tommy Sheridan (Glasgow) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much it has spent on detection, conviction, awareness and education programmes and rehabilitation and treatment projects with regard to illegal drug abuse and its associated problems (a) in Scotland and (b) broken down by NHS board area in each year since 1998-99.

Hugh Henry: The Executive’s Policy Unit undertook a "snapshot" study in 1999 to estimate public sector expenditure on drug-related activities. The study estimated that around £56 million per annum is spent in Scotland on targeted programmes and interventions specifically aimed at the drugs problem, and a further £85 million per annum is spent on tackling drugs through generic expenditure programmes. A broad breakdown of these figures is as follows:

  

 

£ Million 
  



Enforcement Activities 
  

74 
  



Prevention and Education 
  

18 
  



Treatment and Rehabilitation 
  

29 
  



Supporting Communities 
  

17 
  



Other (Research, Support for Drug Action Teams etc) 
  

3 
  



Total 
  

141 
  



  From the 2000 spending review, we allocated an additional £100 million, over three years, to support delivery of our drugs strategy. A breakdown of this expenditure is as follows:

  


Area of Spend 
  

2001-02
(£ Million) 
  

2002-03
(£ Million) 
  

2003-04
(£ Million) 
  



Treatment 
  

2 
  

4 
  

4 
  



Rehabilitation 
  

6.8 
  

6.8 
  

6.8 
  



Training 
  

0.2 
  

0.2 
  

0.2 
  



Prisons 
  

2 
  

4 
  

4 
  



Training and Employment Bridges 
  

1.5 
  

2.5 
  

2.5 
  



Community Disposals 
  

2 
  

3.5 
  

4 
  



Young People and Families 
  

4 
  

6 
  

8 
  



Schools Education 
  

1 
  

1 
  

1 
  



Youth Crime 
  

0.0 
  

0.5 
  

0.5 
  



Public Awareness Initiatives 
  

2.1 
  

2.1 
  

2.1 
  



Scotland Against Drugs 
  

1.5 
  

1.5 
  

1.5 
  



Social Inclusion Partnerships 
  

- 
  

2 
  

3 
  



Research 
  

 0.666 
  

 0.666 
  

 0.666 
  



Local Structures, Good Practice and Evaluation 
  

0.6 
  

0.6 
  

0.6 
  



Management Information and Systems 
  

0.5 
  

0.5 
  

0.5 
  



Total 
  

24.866 
  

35.866 
  

39.366 
  



  A further £28 million, again over three years, was allocated to support the drugs strategy from the 2001 budget consequentials exercise. A breakdown of this investment is as follows:

  

 

2001-02
(£ Million) 
  

2002-03
(£ Million) 
  

2003-04
(£ Million) 
  



Enforcement 
  

1.9 
  

 3.90 
  

 5.98 
  



Drug Courts and Arrest Referral 
  

0.2 
  

 1.30 
  

 1.722 
  



Community Safety 
  

- 
  

 0.75 
  

 0.75 
  



Treatment 
  

0.9 
  

1.3 
  

1.1 
  



Children’s Projects 
  

0.5 
  

 0.75 
  

 0.75 
  



Crown Office 
  

2.0 
  

 2.0 
  

 2.0 
  



Scottish Communities Against Drugs Initiative 
  

0.5 
  

- 
  

- 
  



Totals 
  

6.0 
  

 10.0 
  

 12.3 
  



  Note:

  Investment of £0.8 million over two years announced subsequently to Scotland Against Drugs for the education sector initiative.

  Expenditure on detection and conviction activities are not recorded separately and, apart from resources for drug treatment, the information in the preceding tables is not held at individual NHS board area. Resources allocated specifically for drug treatment are allocated to NHS boards, so it is possible to provide information disaggregated to NHS board level. The breakdown in the following table takes into account the resources incorporated in the preceding table.

  


NHS Board 
  

Allocation 1998-99
(£000) 
  

Allocation 1999-2000
(£000) 
  

Allocation 2000-01
(£000) 
  

Allocation 2001-02
(£000) 
  

Allocation 2002-03
(£000) 
  



Ayrshire and Clyde 
  

709 
  

901 
  

984 
  

1,111 
  
 



Ayrshire and Arran 
  

403 
  

535 
  

609 
  

737 
  

987 
  



Borders 
  

68 
  

96 
  

118 
  

160 
  

162 
  



Dumfries and Galloway 
  

61 
  

96 
  

124 
  

298 
  

258 
  



Fife 
  

328 
  

445 
  

514 
  

698 
  

789 
  



Forth Valley 
  

103 
  

172 
  

226 
  

462 
  

557 
  



Grampian 
  

750 
  

972 
  

1,085 
  

1,283 
  

1,313 
  



Greater Glasgow* 
  

2,871 
  

3,502 
  

3,670 
  

4,387* 
  

4,488 
  



Highland 
  

86 
  

137 
  

181 
  

300 
  

414 
  



Lanarkshire 
  

333 
  

497 
  

607 
  

862 
  

1,449 
  



Lothian 
  

1,163 
  

2,776 
  

2,922 
  

3,214 
  

3,539 
  



Orkney 
  

11 
  

16 
  

20 
  

24 
  

32 
  



Shetland 
  

28 
  

37 
  

42 
  

46 
  

55 
  



Tayside 
  

933 
  

1,151 
  

1,225 
  

1,348 
  

1,483 
  



Western Isles 
  

13 
  

20 
  

25 
  

43 
  

87 
  



Total 
  

8,960 
  

11,352 
  

12,352 
  

14,973 
  

16,951 
  



  Note:

  *Funding does not include additional resources of £250,000 allocated to Greater Glasgow NHS Board in 2001-02 or £500,000 in 2002-03 to meet the treatment costs of the Glasgow Drug Court pilot.

Enterprise

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to maximise business start-ups amongst older entrepreneurs.

Iain Gray: The Executive is working directly with Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise to improve the quality and consistency of support for business start-ups and small business throughout Scotland. Within the Scottish Enterprise area, individuals wishing to start a business have access to support through the Small Business Gateway. The support services available aim to maximise the number of start-ups from all groups - although some targeted support services are available.

  Specifically, under New Deal 50+ people wishing to become self employed will have access to a range of help, including the payment of an employment credit. Clients on New Deal 50+ who are considering becoming self employed are informed by their personal advisor of the help and advice open to them from a wide range of organisations, including business start-up training through Training for Work.

Fisheries

Mr Andrew Welsh (Angus) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether businesses in Arbroath that are dependent on the white fish sector will benefit from the temporary rates relief measures announced on 11 March 2003.

Ross Finnie: The measures announced on 11 March will apply to any business which can demonstrate reliance on a port where more than 20% of the value of the landings is represented by whitefish. Ports which have vessels eligible for the transitional support available to the whitefish catching sector will also qualify.

Fisheries

Richard Lochhead (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many foreign-owned fishing vessels were on the Scottish register (a) in 1997 and (b) on the most recent date for which figures are available and whether it will give the figures for tonnage and power of such vessels if they can be calculated.

Ross Finnie: At 31 December 1997, 38 fishing vessels regarded as being wholly or partly owned or controlled by foreign interests were based in Scotland. The combined tonnage of these vessels was 10,526 Gross Tonnes (GT) and engine power totalled 33,709 kWs.

  As at 31 December 2002, 33 such vessels were based in Scotland, with a total tonnage of 11,120 GT and engine power of 33,056 kWs.

Immigration

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to encourage people with skills and qualifications to return to Scotland.

Iain Gray: There is a strong economic case for seeking to encourage more people to come and live in Scotland, whether they are wishing to return to Scotland or indeed live in Scotland for the first time.

  In a speech on 25 February, the First Minister announced that he wished to see progress made in areas such as the better promotion of Scotland as a place to live and work, working with the UK government to better promote the work permit system in Scotland and encouraging overseas students to stay in Scotland after they complete their studies.

  An implementation team has already been set up within the Executive to drive progress forward on this issue, which will also take external advice as required.

  This will build upon work already undertaken, such as the TalentScotland initiative developed by Scottish Enterprise, which is creating awareness of the job opportunities in Scotland amongst electronic engineers from all over the world.

Justice

Scott Barrie (Dunfermline West) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when the report by the Crown Agent on the aims, objectives and targets in the criminal justice system will be published and what action it will take as a result.

Mr Jim Wallace: The Crown Agent's report will be published today.

  The Lord Advocate and I welcome the report, which provides a careful and reasoned diagnosis of the fragmentation in our criminal justice system. The report describes how a more coherent approach could be achieved. We are committed to a "joined-up" approach at local and national level and will now study the details to see how this can best be put into practice.

  As the report shows, local co-ordination and liaison are of fundamental importance and we very much hope it will be possible to implement arrangements to bring together criminal justice agencies into closer working relationships at local level. We will be discussing further with Sheriffs Principal what role they might play in convening such arrangements, bearing in mind the limits of their statutory responsibility to secure the speedy and efficient disposal of business in the sheriff courts of their sheriffdom.

  We also propose to set up a national Criminal Justice System (CJS) Board, consisting of the chief officers of the main criminal justice agencies.

  The remit of the board will be to make recommendations on the overall aims, objectives and targets for the Criminal Justice System and to monitor the performance of the system as a whole. To enable the board to carry out its remit, members will be invited to share information and to consider how information on the performance of the system as a whole should be presented and measured.

  We have discussed with the judiciary their possible involvement in the national board to be sure that nothing the Executive does risks being seen to compromise their independence.

  A High Court judge will attend the national CJS Board when issues that would benefit from judicial input at that level arise. The Convenor of the Sheriffs Principal has also agreed to attend the board.

  We are anxious to ensure that closer local working relationships are based on practical projects with achievable results.

  To this end, we plan to set up one or more funded pilot projects to illustrate how a joined-up approach could be implemented at local level. The pilots will be in the area of the summary criminal business of the sheriff courts, with particular reference to eliminating avoidable delay. We are already committed, under Action Point 10 of our youth crime action plan, to considering measures to increase the speed of referral to the courts, and the introduction of specific targets discussed with the judiciary.

  The pilots would be overseen by the national CJS Board.

  This report complements the report by Lord Bonomy on improving the efficiency of the High Court, and the work being undertaken by Sheriff Principal McInnes’s Committee on summary justice. Together, these three reviews will pave the way for the most radical improvements in our criminal justice system for over 20 years.

  Andrew Normand has already consulted extensively but we would welcome wider debate. We have therefore placed a copy of the report on the Scottish Executive website, and in the Parliament’s Reference Centre. We are sending the report to key organisations within the criminal justice system and making copies available to other organisations and to the general public on request and we would welcome any comments they wish to offer.

Licensing

Susan Deacon (Edinburgh East and Musselburgh) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what monitoring systems are in place in respect of licensing, and complaints about, lap dancing clubs.

Mr Jim Wallace: There is no such monitoring by the Scottish Executive. Such licensing is the responsibility of local authorities.

Licensing

Susan Deacon (Edinburgh East and Musselburgh) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what monitoring systems are in place to compare local authorities’ policies on licensing of lap dancing clubs.

Mr Jim Wallace: The Executive does not monitor centrally the policies of local authorities on licensing of lap dancing clubs.

Lifelong Learning

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to develop IT skills among older workers.

Iain Gray: Responsibility for IT skills rests with e-skills UK, the employer-led, UK-wide Sector Skills Council. In Scotland they have a number of initiatives which target older workers, such as delivering adult Modern Apprenticeships to large firms, and small and medium enterprises, as well as offering advice on re-training the older workforce. Also learndirect scotland promotes IT learning as part of its work.

Ministerial Correspondence

Mr Kenneth Macintosh (Eastwood) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what its performance in answering ministerial correspondence was in the fourth quarter of 2002.

Ms Patricia Ferguson: In the answer given to question S1W-24583 on 28 March 2002, I undertook to continue to report quarterly on the numbers of letters received by ministers and our performance in answering them.

  In the quarter October to December 2002, 3,464 letters were received for ministerial reply, of which 74% received a reply within 17 working days and 91% received a reply within 25 working days. This performance has improved against the targets compared to that in the third quarter of 2002 when 70% of letters received a reply within 17 working days and 89% received a reply within 25 working days.

National Lottery Funding

Irene McGugan (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking in the light of the on-going review of the national lottery to ensure that the distribution of lottery money in Scotland meets Scottish needs and priorities.

Dr Elaine Murray: The consultation paper on lottery distribution policy, "Review of Lottery Funding", was published jointly by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, the Scottish Executive, the National Assembly for Wales and the Northern Ireland Assembly on 29 July 2002 for consultation until 30 October 2002. The consultation paper set out a range of issues for consideration including two major themes of making the lottery more responsive to the needs and priorities of communities, and ensuring that funding is fairly distributed to all areas and communities across the UK.

  I have written to the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport conveying Scottish ministers’ views in the light of the Scottish consultation responses. Copies of the letter have been placed in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. number 26471).

  As part of our on-going consideration of the review, I met the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport and the Minister for Culture, Sport and the Welsh Language of the National Assembly for Wales on 27 February to discuss a range of issues on the National Lottery, including Scottish aspects.

  The outcome of the lottery review is expected to be announced in summer 2003.

  The Lottery Distributing Bodies (Scottish Arts Council, Scottish Screen, sportscotland, Community Fund, New Opportunities Fund, and Heritage Lottery Fund) are meantime engaged in a wide range of activities to ensure that the distribution of lottery money in Scotland meets Scottish needs and priorities.

Nursing

Donald Gorrie (Central Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will fund NHS boards in a way that encourages them to employ more in-house nurses and fewer agency nurses.

Malcolm Chisholm: We have committed record investment in health spending, rising from £4.9 billion in 1999-2000 to £8.6 billion in 2005-06. This is sufficient to allow the employment of more in-house nurses and fewer agency nurses.

Nursing

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many graduate nurses have entered the one-year guarantee scheme and how many have subsequently gained full-time employment.

Malcolm Chisholm: The one-year guarantee scheme administered by NHS Education for Scotland was set up to find a place in the NHS for newly qualified nurses and midwives who had failed to find a post through the normal recruitment process. Twenty-two nurses and midwives entered the scheme and were referred to NHS trusts with appropriate vacancies. Had the newly qualified nurses and midwives failed to find employment they would have re-entered the scheme but none have done so.

Nursing

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what guidelines there are for (a) nurses and (b) NHS boards to ensure a consistent approach to clinical placement for nursing students.

Malcolm Chisholm: The Nursing and Midwifery Council have set advisory standards for the preparation of mentors who support, educate and assess student nurses and midwives in practice placements. All higher education institutions run in-house mentorship preparation programmes to meet these advisory standards and the demands of their own pre-registration programme. All mentors are required to complete one of these programmes prior to becoming a mentor of students. This ensures a degree of consistency for both nurses and students.

  The placement of students within NHS board areas is organised by higher education institutions in close partnership with their local trusts. Decisions about number of students in each placement are therefore made locally and subject to negotiation. All these partnerships are trying to ensure maximum use of placements, including in remote and rural areas.

  A report to be published by NHS Education on 20 March will describe a national approach to the identification and allocation of practice placements in conjunction with ISD. This will reduce the consistency of usage of practice placements, although still taking into account local needs and demands.

Pharmacies

Mr Andrew Welsh (Angus) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when it will decide what action, if any, should be taken regarding the statutory arrangements for controlling entry to NHS pharmaceutical lists.

Malcolm Chisholm: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-34455 on 13 March. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search .

Regeneration

Robert Brown (Glasgow) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive when it intends to start accepting applications for its £2 million fund that aims to promote regeneration by sustaining and improving post office branches located in deprived urban areas.

Des McNulty: The Executive began accepting applications from 3 March 2003.

Renewable Energy

Sarah Boyack (Edinburgh Central) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when an announcement is expected on the proposal to build a 199-megawatt offshore wind-powered generating station at Robin Rigg in the Solway Firth.

Lewis Macdonald: I can announce that the Scottish ministers have granted consent on this proposal in terms of section 36 of the Electricity Act 1989.

  This proposal was submitted in June 2002 and required a number of consents and licences from the Scottish ministers. The consultation on the section 36 consent ended in October 2002. The process revealed a range of environmental issues which required careful consideration. The consent carries conditions requiring a range of monitoring and mitigation measures designed to safeguard natural heritage and local interests.

Schools

Michael Russell (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many proposals it has received from local authorities in respect of the new round of approvals for schemes for school rebuilding and refurbishment and how many such proposals seek to utilise not-for-profit trusts as the vehicle for the development.

Nicol Stephen: We have received proposals from 14 authorities, one of which proposes a public private partnership described as a not-for-profit trust approach.

Social Inclusion Partnerships

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what measurements it, and its executive agencies and non-departmental public bodies, used to monitor value for money obtained by the Paisley Partnership Regeneration Company and what the company’s performance has been against each of these targets since the company was established.

Des McNulty: I have asked Bob Millar, Chief Executive, Communities Scotland to respond. His response is as follows:

  Paisley Partnership Regeneration Company receives Social Inclusion Partnership (SIP) funding and as such is subject to the same monitoring and appraisal processes as all Social Inclusion Partnerships.

  Under Communities Scotland’s Standard Terms and Conditions of Grant for the SIP fund, Renfrewshire Council’s role as grant recipient is to ensure effective appraisal, monitoring and financial systems are in place so that the costs of each activity which receives SIP funding and the outputs generated can be clearly identified, value for money demonstrated, and the propriety and regularity of all payments and handling of SIP fund funding ensured. The council’s audit department were acting in this capacity when carrying out the recent financial health check on Paisley Partnership Regeneration Company. In addition, the Monitoring Framework for SIPs also provides for annual monitoring and appraisal of SIPs by Communities Scotland.

  SIPs are also subject to independent evaluation at appropriate points in their life cycle. Paisley Partnership’s 2001 evaluation concluded that in broad terms the Paisley SIP was making good progress towards its aims and that many of the projects funded by the SIP represented good value for money.

Special Educational Needs

Donald Gorrie (Central Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-34065 by Cathy Jamieson on 26 February 2003, whether it will detail the members of the National Special Educational Needs Advisory Forum and their designations.

Cathy Jamieson: Membership details are listed in the Scottish Executive National Special Educational Needs Advisory Forum website at www.scotland.gov.uk/senaf .

Student Finance

Tommy Sheridan (Glasgow) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many students in (a) further and (b) higher education (HE) have been eligible for and have received grants; how many received full grants, and how much the full grant was in each year since 1996-97.

Iain Gray: While information on the number of full-time further education students who have been eligible for and have received grants can be provided, the value of those grants and, therefore, the number of students who received full grants, is not held centrally. The number of students who received a further education bursary is detailed in the following table.

  

 

1996-97 
  

1997-98 
  

1998-99 
  

1999-2000 
  

2000-01 
  

2001-02 
  



Total Number of Bursaries Paid 
  

26,440 
  

26,873 
  

28,049 
  

32,562 
  

31,587 
  

34,846 
  



  Young Scottish students studying full-time HE courses in Scotland from 2001-02 are entitled to have up to £2,050 of their annual loan support replaced by a Young Students’ Bursary (YSB). Young Scottish students studying elsewhere in the UK for the first time from 2002-03 onwards are entitled to an annual Young Students’ Outside Scotland Bursary (YSO) of up to £510, which is provided in addition to their student loan entitlement. Both bursaries are provided as an entitlement based on the level of parental income and eligibility is assessed as part of the overall assessment of eligibility for student support.

  In academic year 2001-02, there were 13,579 recipients of YSB of whom 4,978 received the maximum award (£2,000 in 2001-02). In the current academic year to date, 21,384 YSB awards and 317 YSO awards have been made with 8,917 and 250 students, respectively, receiving the maximum award.

  Non-repayable supplementary grants are also available for those students who have additional financial needs, such as students who have dependants or who have a disability. Additional discretionary grants are also available from individual colleges and universities for new mature students with child care costs and for any student who faces particular financial difficulties, which might prevent them from accessing or continuing their course.

Student Finance

Tommy Sheridan (Glasgow) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether students, their parents or one of their parents need to earn less than £10,000 per year for the student to qualify for a full grant under the current qualification criteria.

Iain Gray: Young Scottish students studying full-time higher education courses in Scotland from 2001-02 are entitled to have up to £2,050 of their annual loan support replaced by a bursary. The maximum bursary is available to those students whose parental income is under £10,240 per year, and tapers to £1,263 per year at an income of £15,000 and zero when the parental income is more than £26,300.

  Young Scottish students studying elsewhere in the UK for the first time from 2002-03 onwards are entitled to an annual Young Students’ Outside Scotland Bursary of up to £510. The maximum bursary is available to those students whose parental income is under £15,360 per year, and tapers to zero when the parental income is more than £18,400. This bursary is provided in addition to their student loan entitlement.

  Both bursaries are provided as an entitlement based on the level of income of the parent or parents with whom the student would normally reside. The student’s own earned income is not taken account for the assessment of student support.

Student Finance

Tommy Sheridan (Glasgow) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the amount of money a student in receipt of a full grant may have to live on may be less than £3.88 a day once reasonable housing costs have been paid.

Iain Gray: We are currently in the process of commissioning a Student Income and Expenditure Survey to cover Scottish domiciled students in further and higher education. This will provide us with information on a wide range of costs incurred by Scottish domiciled students including housing costs.

Water Supply

Phil Gallie (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what the cost has been of the consultation on the Public Charter for the Drinking Water Quality Regulator for Scotland.

Ross Finnie: Definitive costs attributed to the consultation on the Public Charter for the Drinking Water Quality Regulator for Scotland relate to document production. The total costs of document production relating to the two phases of the consultation are £1,367.

Water Supply

Phil Gallie (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will not proceed with the proposed public charter for the Drinking Water Quality Regulator for Scotland in the light of the level of response and content of responses received in respect of its consultation on this matter.

Ross Finnie: The Scottish Executive is committed to ensuring that enforcement procedures are fair and transparent through the provision of a public charter for the Drinking Water Quality Regulator for Scotland. This charter will therefore seek to comply with the Executive’s charter policy and the principles of the Cabinet Office Enforcement Concordat. The Executive’s commitment started with the publication of the consultation document and will conclude with the publication of the charter itself.

Water Supply

Phil Gallie (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will consider setting a job specification for the Drinking Water Quality Regulator for Scotland that ensures that all requirements of a public service regulatory appointment are met.

Ross Finnie: The Drinking Water Quality Regulator for Scotland was appointed by Scottish ministers on 1 April 2002 under powers conferred by subsection 7(1) of the Water Industry (Scotland) Act 2002. The regulator has a job specification in that the terms of his appointment state that the purpose of the appointment is to exercise the functions conferred on him by Part 2 and Schedule 2 of the Water Industry (Scotland) Act 2002.